This is the first and foremost criteria you must have to become a Knight or Dame. A submission to God and a full and complete acceptance of Jesus as the Christ who died for your sins, taking the punishment that was yours and suffering as a willing sacrifice in your place.

Without this sincere and heartfelt belief, then you must turn away from becoming a Knight or Dame.

It's easy to "talk the talk", but can you actually "walk the walk"? It takes a special kind of ability to stand in the face of adversity and proclaim Chirst is Lord. That strength needs to be able to overcome fear and enable you to do your duty to Christ and your fellow brethren, sacrificially, loyally and with love.

This is the strength that comes from belief in the Lord and also the willingness to confront the enemy as would a soldier in battle.

There are many times when we can feel the pull to shirk our responsibilities in life. It takes a certain kind of ability to overcome those urges. Self-dicipline comes from having had many opportunities to push yourself mentally and physcally to complete a difficult task.

This is the determination to never give up. To push yourself to new limits of endurance over and over. This is the training necessary to forge the steel will to overcome an obstacle, whatever may happen.

When we speak of honour, this is not about titles. It is all about how you treat your fellow man. As Knights Templar we are held to a higher standard of integrity in our daily experiences. We have the standard that Christ set, a standard that we can only aspire to (but never reach) because we are not perfect.

But every day we must try to implement a standard of conduct that is one which we can pray that will be acceptable to God.